Kicking off the halloween season here is a different kind of fear. I'm not a big fan of horror, I don't like to watch things just for the purpose of being scared nor do I like watching things just to feel sad. I don't know…. those are necessary emotions and I think we need to expose the audience of animation to more of those themes but when it comes down to it, I like to watch TV and movies to have fun. And my idea of fun are good characters going through adventures with doses of light heartedness. And in my opinion, themes of sadness and fear are most effective when you come into it not expecting to feel those emotions, and especially when they portray those themes in so many different ways.

That is why Steven Universe is one of the best cartoons out right now. Top 5 undoubtably. In my opinion this show rivals even Adventure Time in quality. Steven Universe is primarily a light hearted show, yet like Adventure Time it bends emotions in ways where you feel such a weird blend of contrasting feelings. I first realized that in this episode. Let me explain why this episode, even though it's not a halloween special or even primarily scary, is just as scary as modern examples of horror such as Five Nights at Freddys. (And don't get me wrong, I wet myself every time I just LOOK at Five Nights at Freddys… screw you Five Nights at Freddys).

SPOILER WARNING: GO TO NEXT SPOILER TAB FOR SUMMARIZATION OF THOUGHTS

The plot? (I'm going to assume you know what the actual show is about). After watching some samurai movies, Steven wants to learn some sword fighting from Pearl. So Pearl creates a robotic replica of herself for training, but when she gets distracted the replica thrusts a sword and technically kills her.

Uh….. love tap.

However, crystal gems have special abilities and instead her essence just retreats in her gem to recover. But…. c'mon, that was a surprise! They took a lot of people's favorite gem and they chose HER to take a sword to the chest. Anyway, Steven (since Pearl pretty much acts as the closest to a mother figure he has) gets some loneliness problems and tries to find a way to make her recovery in her gem go faster. But when that doesn't work, he takes the replica and tries to use that as Pearl number 2.

….. K, not judging.

We don't see that many new areas and there isn't that much that happens, but the atmosphere makes it that I'm on the edge every second. We know that Holopearl is dangerous so it's kind of unsettling seeing Steven spend so much time with that in hopes of replacing the emotional piece that's missing when Pearl is gone. Pearl 2's monotone voice also adds to the replica's unsettling-ness. Pearl is an extremely expressive character so to have this robotic copy not respond to anything Pearl would normally respond to.

One thing to note here that makes the story really come full circle. At the beginning Steven wasn't listening to Pearl's lectures on real sword combat, preferring to see the romanticized tricks seen in the movies. But the lessons taught by Pearl come back in more ways then one. When Holopearl eventually does go nuts, Steven tries to use several different tricks from the movie to hold her off, but it didn't work. It wasn't until he had to wait for the perfect moment when he could strike and win. But this also comes into play emotionally. Steven wants Pearl to come back as soon as possible and needs some Pearl like entity in his life immediately, that's why he turned to the replica. But the romanticized idea of the family becoming full once again couldn't satisfy him in the end, as he said, "I should've just waited until it was TIME for you to come back". And it wasn't until he saw that when Pearl finally did return. What's seems like a simple waiting game plot really did become the ultimate emotional arc for Steven so far in the show.

You can see the grief in Steven. Steven constantly swings through mood swings, sometimes being accepting with the Pearl replica and other times completely flipping out and hurling things at it. A mix of sadness, anger, and denial…. an accurate representation of a confused kid in an event of turmoil.

We're still given our dose of action and comedy too, like the last episode I reviewed they also incorporate them nicely. The initial sword fight with Pearl and Holopearl is animated really nicely, almost anime standard. Flips, tricks, and everything, this is definitely a cool fight and the music that plays in the background, Dance of Swords, is one of the best of the show. Steven Universe has some of the best animation and background music and this episode is a good example of the show's track record. Even the theme behind Holopearl is creepy.

I'm getting sidetracked aren't I? What makes this episode scary? Let me answer that question with another question… Would it be scary if a family member was in the hospital?

That got dark but that's the feeling this episode reflects. The gems are basically family and this episode puts the mother figure face to face with death and takes the audience through Steven's grief cycle with the situation. This episode doesn't rely on jump scares, disturbing imagery, or even Halloween itself to put it's audience on the edge. It's all emotional and that's a kind of fear that should be expressed more often, especially in children's entertainment. It's scarier then Five Nights at Freddy's because it's real. {-- That word right there, that sums up the episode in it's entirety.

Spoiler-Free

Story - 92/100 - The story comes full circle physically and emotionally and captures fear in a real way. Character - 82/100 - Steven goes through a full emotional arc and Holopearl acts as an unsettling contrast to the regular Pearl. Animation - 86/100 - The dark colors and the angles make Holopearl look more intimidating when the episode calls for it and the sword fights are also really interesting to look at. Comedy - 78/100 - Comedy is balanced well into this episode and they fit in some gags that don't take up too much time, but are enough to warrant a chuckle and lighten the mood so it doesn't distract from the rest of the episode. Overall -

84.5/100

Great

I'm not sure if I would recommend this episode as an introduction to the series because a lot of it relies on character bonds. You need to feel a part of the family to truly cry with the family. But if you have seen some episodes of the show and you're looking to see a more emotional episode (or if you're looking for something more gothic in style) then this is the one for you.